1. Technical Field
This invention relates to security alarms and, more particularly, to a vehicle alarm system for notifying a caregiver when a child is seated inside the existing vehicle during unsafe conditions.
2. Prior Art
Bringing home a new baby is usually a joyful occasion. The addition of new family member, however, can be stressful on a family as the presence of a new family member changes family dynamics. Also, with a new baby in the home, parents or caretakers are often sleep deprived due to an infant's irregular feeding and sleeping schedules. A long period of sleep deprivation can have a significant effect on a person's memory. Tragically, every year infants die or are seriously injured due to a driver inadvertently forgetting that an infant is in the back seat of a car, and leaving the vehicle for long periods of time, such as while they are working or shopping. If the weather is either very hot or very cold, the infant can perish prior to anyone becoming aware of the dangerous situation. According to one report, more than 120 children died from heat stroke in a vehicle between 1996 and 2000 from being left in a parked vehicle between 1996 and 2000 in the United States.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,147 to Viksnins discloses a warning system for detecting a child left in a child car seat in a vehicle. The system comprises a child car seat, a child occupant sensor, a temperature sensor, and an alarm. The child occupant sensor includes an input to detect a child in the child car seat, and an output providing a signal representative of whether a child is present in the child car seat. The temperature sensor includes an input to detect an ambient vehicle temperature, and an output to provide a signal responsive to the ambient vehicle temperature. The alarm is coupled to the child occupant sensor output and the temperature sensor output. The alarm is configured to provide a warning using information about whether the child is present in the child car seat and the ambient vehicle temperature is outside an acceptable range. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not monitor a child's body temperature to determine whether the child is at risk.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,016 to Ho discloses an apparatus for providing an indication to a person external to a vehicle, of an occupant inside the vehicle. The method comprises determining whether a first object in the vehicle is an occupant, based, in part, on a weight of the first object; sensing whether an ignition of the vehicle is in an off position; detecting whether a first door coupled to the vehicle has been opened and closed, if the vehicle ignition is in an off position; if the first door has been opened and closed and an occupant is in the vehicle, measuring a first time (T1) from an instant the first door is closed to an instant after the first door is closed; and activating the alert, if T1 is greater than a predetermined threshold time. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not include a remote controller to alert the caretaker when an occupant is still seated in the parked vehicle. The caretaker may not notice an alert emanating from the vehicle if the caretaker hurriedly walks away after exiting. U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,340 to Rossi discloses an apparatus for warning when a child has been left in an infant seat and a vehicle as been turned to an off position. The apparatus includes an occupant detection mechanism for detecting the presence of an occupant within an infant seat located within a vehicle; an ignition detection mechanism for detecting the state of the vehicle's ignition system; a control unit for generating an alarm signal when the occupant detection mechanism detects the presence of an occupant within the infant seat and the ignition detection mechanism detects that the vehicle's ignition system has been turned from an “on” state to an “off” state; and an alarm unit for generating an alarm in response to the alarm signal. The components of the apparatus can be located within the infant seat, within the vehicle or combined within the infant seat and the vehicle. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not include a means of determining and relating the body temperature of an occupant, left inside the parked vehicle, to a hand held remote controller carried by the user.
Accordingly, a need remains for a vehicle alarm system in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a system that is convenient and easy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in its applications, and provides a means of notifying a caregiver when a child is seated inside the existing vehicle during unsafe conditions.